Russia and the Politics of International Environmental Regimes is an important and timely analysis of Russia's interaction with the international environmental policy process. The three authors draw on a wealth of research experience working within the region in order to explore Russia s activities with respect to climate policy, water protection and fisheries management. Their detailed analysis provides an illuminating and much-needed insight into the interaction between Russian foreign and domestic policy goals and international environmental regimes operating at a range of scales.' - Jonathan Oldfield, University of Birmingham, UK'This is a timely contribution to our understanding of the motives behind, and results to be expected from, Russia's international environmental engagement. By focusing on climate change policy, Barents Sea fisheries, and regional seas protection in the Baltic, the authors judiciously conclude that trans-boundary environmental commitments are primarily the result of 'great power' concerns including domestic economic growth, regional trade, and a globally favorable image - not ecological conscience. The book represents a major step forward in post-Soviet foreign policy studies.' - David Feldman, University of California, Irvine, US 'This valuable book brings together the insights and research of three established scholars. Students new to the environmental aspects of Russia's international engagement will appreciate the clear and readable case studies. The findings and discussion that result from the authors' unique and rigorous cross-case comparison will be of great interest to scholars of Russia s foreign policy and environmental policy more broadly.' - Elana Wilson Rowe, Norwegian Institute of International Affairs Russia and the Politics of International Environmental Regimes examines the political relationship between Russia and other states in environmental matters. Based on detailed empirical analysis and data, including interviews and media sources, this groundbreaking book scrutinizes the dynamics of Russia's participation in international environmental politics. The authors explore three detailed case studies focusing on climate policy, water protection and fisheries management. They then recommend how best to negotiate with Russia on key environmental issues. This book will be of particular interest to scholars of environmental politics, international relations and Russian studies. Environmental policymakers will also find this to be a useful tool when looking to understand environmental politics within Russia. Contents: Preface 1. Introduction 2. Environmental Regimes and Russia's Approaches to Environmental and Foreign Policy 3. The Global Case: The Climate Regime 4. The Regional Case: Protecting the Environment of the Baltic Sea 5. The Bilateral Case: Fisheries Management in the Barents Sea 6. Discussion: Two levels of Discourses in Russian Environmental Policy 7. Conclusion: Environmental Encounters? References Index

When American explorers crossed the Texas Panhandle, they dubbed it part of the ""Great American Desert."" A ""sea of grass,"" the llano appeared empty, flat, and barely habitable. Contemporary developments - cell phone towers, oil rigs, and wind turbines - have only added to this stereotype. Yet in this lyrical ecomemoir, Shelley Armitage charts a unique rediscovery of the largely unknown land, a journey at once deeply personal and far-reaching in its exploration of the connections between memory, spirit, and place. Armitage begins her narrative with the intention to walk the llano from her family farm thirty meandering miles along the Middle Alamosa Creek to the Canadian River. Along the way, she seeks the connection between her father and one of the area's first settlers, Ysabel Gurule, who built his dugout on the banks of the Canadian. Armitage, who grew up nearby in the small town of Vega, finds this act of walking inseparable from the act of listening and writing. ""What does the land say to us?"" she asks as she witnesses human alterations to the landscape - perhaps most catastrophic the continued drainage of the land's most precious resource, the Ogallala Aquifer. Yet the llano's wonders persist: dynamic mesas and canyons, vast flora and fauna, diverse wildlife, rich histories. Armitage recovers the voices of ancient, Native, and Hispano peoples, their stories interwoven with her own: her father's legacy, her mother's decline, a brother's love. The llano holds not only the beauty of ecological surprises but a renewed realization of kinship in a world ever changing. Reminiscent of the work of Terry Tempest Williams and John McPhee, Walking the Llano is both a celebration of an oft-overlooked region and a soaring testimony to the power of the landscape to draw us into greater understanding of ourselves and others by experiencing a deeper connection with the places we inhabit.

The surprising history of the Gowanus Canal and its role in the building of Brooklyn For more than 150 years, Brooklyn's Gowanus Canal has been called a cesspool, an industrial dumping ground, and a blemish on the face of the populous borough-as well as one of the most important waterways in the history of New York harbor. Yet its true origins, man-made character, and importance to the city have been largely forgotten. Now, New York writer and guide Joseph Alexiou explores how the Gowanus creek-a naturally-occurring tidal estuary that served as a conduit for transport and industry during the colonial era-came to play an outsized role in the story of America's greatest city. From the earliest Dutch settlers of New Amsterdam, to nearby Revolutionary War skirmishes, or the opulence of the Gilded Age mansions that sprung up in its wake, historical changes to the Canal and the neighborhood that surround it have functioned as a microcosm of the story of Brooklyn's rapid nineteenth-century growth. Highlighting the biographies of nineteenth-century real estate moguls like Daniel Richards and Edwin C. Litchfield, Alexiou recalls the forgotten movers and shakers that laid the foundation of modern-day Brooklyn. As he details, the pollution, crime, and industry associated with the Gowanus stretch back far earlier than the twentieth century, and helped define the culture and unique character of this celebrated borough. The story of the Gowanus, like Brooklyn itself, is a tale of ambition and neglect, bursts of creative energy, and an inimitable character that has captured the imaginations of city-lovers around the world.

A practical guide to improve classes that are bored, hostile, aggressive or just not quite right. The book provides tips form making small class teaching more effective, with practical suggestions for a broad range of problems that teachers regularly encounter.